Hooray! It’s another year of celebrating the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted 243 years ago on July 4, 1776. It’s a time of celebration with our families and friends, watching fireworks, and eating lots of food. As you prepare for your day of fun, here are a few facts you may not know:

Although adopted on July 4, it wasn’t officially signed on this day.

More than one copy exists.

A riot broke out in New York upon the news and a statue of George III was melted to shape more than 42,000 musket balls.

Eight of the 56 signers were born in Britain and not America.

Richard Stockton became the only signer to later recant his support of the revolution.

One of the copies sold for $8.1 million.

For expanded explanations and additional things you may not know, go to History.com. As always, be safe and have a great day!

Winning Writers is sponsoring the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest , which ends April 1, 2019. This contest seeks today’s best humorous poems. There isn’t a fee to enter, and even better, it’s for published or unpublished work! That’s right, even if the authors works was already published, it’s still eligible.

The judges will award a first prize of $1,000 and a second prize of $250. Ten Honorable Mentions will receive $100 each. The top 12 entries will be published online. To enter, submit a funny poem of no more than 250 lines. As always, good luck!

Revise & Resub is a writerly contest started in 2017 by a group of editors wanting to help writers find their dreams of publishing. Writers submit their completed manuscripts to two editors and one alternate for an opportunity to win feedback. The chosen writers will get help to ready their entire manuscripts for agent queries, and it’s FREE!

The submission window opens at 9am EST on April 21, 2018 and closes at 11:59pm on April 22, 2018. Be sure to read the editor bios so your manuscript will be a good fit (and they don’t hit the delete button)! In order to submit, go here. And as always, good luck!

Winning Writers is sponsoring the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest , which ends April 1, 2018. This contest seeks today’s best humorous poems. There isn’t a fee to enter, and even better, it’s for published or unpublished work! That’s right, even if the authors works was already published, it’s still eligible.

The judges will award a first prize of $1,000 and a second prize of $250. Ten Honorable Mentions will receive $100 each. The top 12 entries will be published online. To enter, submit a funny poem of no more than 250 lines. As always, good luck!

There are also free workshops for everyone all week long. If you miss one, you can watch the replay for free too! So, if you want some cool advise on the manuscript you’re writing, go here for a chance to win and to sign up for the free workshops!

Wanting feedback on your first page from a professional? The Manuscript Academy might be the answer! The Academy has a podcast where an agent or editor picks a submitted first page and talks for ten minutes about the selected page on air. And most importantly, it’s free!

So how do you submit your first page for a chance for the free feedback? Send it to Academy@ManuscriptWishList.comas a Word document with “First pages podcast” in the subject line. The expert of the week will choose his or her favorite to discuss.

Each year, tens of thousands of Smashwords authors, publishers and readers participate in this global ebook celebration which offers FREE and deep-discounted ebooks. The event is live and ends March 11, 2017. You can find the promotional catalog on the Smashwords home page (or just go here). The special home page catalog enables readers to browse by coupon discount and filter by category, bestseller status, word count and multiple other factors.

And remember, check back often because thousands of new books will join the promotion during the week. You can also keep up with announcements using Twitter hashtags #Smashwords and #ebookweek17.

The Writing in the Margins is a website dedicated to helping underrepresented storied find their place. They have a Mentor Program which pairs an emerging author from a marginalized social group with an experienced editor or traditionally published author in order to work closely on preparing an unpublished manuscript to submit for publication. All authors and editors work on a completely volunteer basis, and there is no charge to the emerging author. Applications are open twice a year, and necessary applicant qualifications are highlighted prior to the submission period.

Applications are currently open! Please apply by NOVEMBER 30. The mentoring period will be in 2017 from February through April. This time they are accepting applications from the following groups: